Top positive review

You wonderful, glorious people you. I don't know why you haven't been nominated for a Nobel Prize. Why hasn't Michelle Obama and her health and fitness initiative given you all the awards? It is shameful, nay, a crime that you have not received the praise and recognition you deserve for this spectacular game. You have done an amazing, impossible thing.

You, yes you, have created the most ingenious way to get geeks to exercise.

You see, we geeks cannot simply pop in P90X and expect to keep up with it. How can we really track our progress? Reps mean nothing to us. What is a deadlift? I've never done one, and those I've seen doing what I suspect is jogging look just so unhappy.

No, you got us to level up. And for that, and I speak for all geek-kind here, we are grateful. Thank you, you amazing, genius game designers for what has to be the most fun exercise ever invented.

Top critical review

3.0 out of 5 starsBest song selection and graphics of any Just Dance game so far - but the worst motion tracking since part 1

ByBraden Pickeringon October 10, 2013

I've kept up with the Just Dance series from the beginning, and own almost all of them to date - Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, Summer Party, Greatest Hits, ABBA, Michael Jackson - and now JD2014. Not only are they incredibly fun, but I also use them as my primary workout regime. In fact, I've been playing them for 20 minutes or more every single day since last December and have lost over 45 pounds with very little modification to my diet. I only mention these things so my later criticisms come off as more credible and not just the rantings of a casual player who simply can't keep up with the steps or hold the controller properly. Trust me, I know these games inside out, lol.

The Just Dance games are one of those rare instances where the next in the series almost always outdoes the last and they just keep getting better and better. Like I said above, I've played these games literally every single day for almost a year, so I was very ready for some new variety, and JD2014 doesn't disappoint in that area. There is a great selection of new and old tracks from around the world, some obscure and others more popular, including several that are in heavy rotation on the radio right now, like "Blurred Lines" and "Get Lucky," along with some that aren't even out on CD yet, like "Applause" and "Roar." Plus, most tracks have at least one - but up to three - alternate modes/choreographies that can be unlocked by earning in-game mojo points. The avatars for your player card are actually pretty cute, and the graphics overall are more colorful and realistic than ever before. (I think I'm in the minority here, but I actually preferred the Just Sweat mode as presented in part 4 where you had the "instructor" guiding you through your session with warm up and cool down periods, though others will likely be glad to see it return to its more traditional format.) The choreography as a whole is more intricate and challenging as well, and the developers really went all out to make this a striking and personal experience. With the wealth of content offered here there is no reason anyone should be bored with this game for quite some time.

However, we need to talk about the motion controls. In a nutshell, they're very hit or miss, and at times downright terrible. I did already admit that some of the choreography is more difficult than in past games, which is great and probably does account for some of it, but many times even the most straightforward of moves rarely scores a "Perfect," and it's not uncommon to receive an "X" for a gesture that may be as simple as slowly pointing your hand to the ground. At one point I sort of joked to myself that I'd probably get a better score just standing still for a few moments, so I tried it - and I did! What's that all about? And don't even get me started on the Gold Moves. They're so awkwardly placed, mostly as non-movements between poses, that landing one really is a random crapshoot that requires no technique whatsoever. The instructional pictograms in the corner are a mess; for instance, they may tell you to move your hand from your hip to your head, which sounds easy enough, but fail to mention anything about the three claps and full body turn in between. Even the moves that are correct still tend to be three or four beats ahead of the moves they actually correspond to, so it's pretty much a useless feature all around. Of course practice makes perfect when learning any new dance, and eventually it will come down to your own memorization, but it really is like somebody worked overtime to make sure you're already going into it facing some unnecessary trial and error. I'm not saying every song on the disc is a complete catastrophe like that, but maybe half the ones I've tried so far are, so definitely more than enough to not go unnoticed. Every Just Dance game has had a handful of "quirks" to watch out for, but after nearly perfecting the art of motion tracking accuracy in parts 3 and 4, it really shocked me to see it so degraded this time around, especially when almost every other aspect improved so vastly. (This isn't a complaint about gameplay, necessarily, but the mash-ups are pretty awful, too. Instead of the usual "who's who" compilation of dancers from past games, they use the same four or five characters from THIS game over and over again with the same set of boring moves that never register correctly anyway. If I see that chick in the blue denim shorts pop up in one more song I'm going to scream.) On the bright side, the points per move seem somewhat generous, so you can afford to biff 2/3 of a song and still end up with upwards of four stars.

Now, with reviews like mine that go against the general consensus, I realize people are going to have questions and try to pinpoint the issues on something I'M doing wrong, which I totally understand as I would normally do the same. Are your batteries charged? Is your controller calibrated? Are you doing the right move at all? And the answers are yes, yes, and yes. As much as I love these types of games they aren't exactly rocket science, lol. Anyhow, despite all that I'm giving this game a rating of three stars because what's good here is REALLY good. It honestly kind of pains me to say so because based on everything I had seen and heard about it beforehand I was fully expecting a 5 star experience. In the end I guess one's enjoyment of it depends on how "serious" of a player they are and what they intend to get out of it. For me personally it functions as a workout more than anything else and it's still a fun way to be active and stay in shape, so it really does suit my needs perfectly in that regard, and the points don't ultimately matter. But, at the end of the day, it IS still a game that's meant to be competitive and scored, even if only against no one other than yourself, and it just simply does not function properly as such so I have to knock some stars off for that reason alone.

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

You wonderful, glorious people you. I don't know why you haven't been nominated for a Nobel Prize. Why hasn't Michelle Obama and her health and fitness initiative given you all the awards? It is shameful, nay, a crime that you have not received the praise and recognition you deserve for this spectacular game. You have done an amazing, impossible thing.

You, yes you, have created the most ingenious way to get geeks to exercise.

You see, we geeks cannot simply pop in P90X and expect to keep up with it. How can we really track our progress? Reps mean nothing to us. What is a deadlift? I've never done one, and those I've seen doing what I suspect is jogging look just so unhappy.

No, you got us to level up. And for that, and I speak for all geek-kind here, we are grateful. Thank you, you amazing, genius game designers for what has to be the most fun exercise ever invented.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

I am a children's librarian at a small urban public library. We have a Wii at the library and I had borrowed Just Dance 2 from my little brother to play it with the kids. That was fun, but the kids all asked me to buy Just Dance 2014 because they wanted the more current music & dances. I bought the game and used it for the first time on Friday. I think I will get alot of use out of it, since kids and teens will both enjoy it. My personal opinion is that video games are generally not very good for kids, but I like Just Dance because it gives the children a chance to be active, which they may not be able to do too much, especially when the weather outside is too cold, hot, or rainy. Plus, dancing and music are forms of artistic expression and exposure to the arts (of any kind) can be beneficial to children. Because we only have four controllers, but up to 50 children who want to play, Just Dance is a good choice. Four children at a time can play using the controllers and the others can dance along behind them. That way, everybody has something to do instead of waiting around being bored & causing trouble... AND everybody is getting some exercise!

The reason I gave the game four instead of five stars is that the kids had expected the song Gangdam Style to be on there because it says PSY on the cover -- that's the main reason they wanted the game. Instead of Gangdam Style, there is a different PSY song.

The cursing is bleeped out, so I think this game is fine for children, but others may not agree. It's up to individual parents to make that decision for their own children.

Cute story: Although they wanted more current songs, the kids ended up dancing to I Will Survive by Aretha Franklin over and over again because of the zombie-themed dance and background associated with the song on Just Dance 2014. Of course, for all I know, the kids may think that's a new song too. Haha! I remember when we first played the old game (Just Dance 2), I had gotten excited about Call Me by Blondie and said, "I like this song!" A kid said to me, "How do you know this song? You've never played this game before." He didn't know that the songs even existed outside the game!

I would receommend this game to people or groups who want to have a fun time and get some exercise. In my opinion, it's appropriate for almost all ages.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Short Review:Its a fun game for playing with friends and an easy way to make yourself workout should you not be inclined to. Be it a summer day or an extreme dislike for running this is something that's a great value at the sub $25 price, but that's all I can say.

It takes a very mobile approach to the selection and gives you so few options for a "console" game. You can be expect to be nickle and dimed the same way Guitar Hero or Rock Band operated. Want a truly new song? Go buy it for a buck each. The selection feels too small, it'd be mice if they offered a huge library and the user gets to select X free tracks to start off, with some being unlockable - a better model.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

We have Just Dance 2014 on Wii and Xbox. I love anything that gets my kids up and active. I hate when they sit around and play video games all day. This is great exercise for not only them but me as well. They have a "Just sweat" devoted to exercise, it even has a calorie counter so you know how many calories you've burned. Up to four people can play so all of my children can get involved (as long as you have extra wii remotes). I wouldn't label this as a "girls" game at all because boys love this game too. They have something for everyone. My husband felt like there weren't as many songs on this one but we love the selection all the same. I love this one just as much as I love just dance 4. I don't mean to toot my own horn but I am a good dancer and this one had a lot more "meduim and hard" songs so I felt I was at my own speed. The dances weren't that easy, which I really liked.

What I love the most about this Just Dance in particular that makes it stand out from all the others is that you can earn credits to buy more songs and dances by singing along and scoring high. On the other Just dance games you have to pay for any new songs with money.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

"Hey! Look over here at this fancy background! Now look at this cool costume! (Nevermind the stupid, confusing choreography)!" I love the first four Just Dance games and play almost every day for exercise, but skipped the fifth one because it didn't have enough songs that I liked. I saw the song list for this one and thought it had enough good ones, and waited for the price to drop in half right before the newest one came out. I want my money back, half-price or no! It's all style, no substance. I've noticed over time that this game series is catering more to the teenage music crowd than a variety of music that appeals to the whole family, and the choreography tries to get fancier but just gets annoying. And it's more about the special lighting and sound effects than the actual dancing. I'm never buying another Just Dance game!

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

If I was rating this on initial reaction to it, I'd have given it 3 stars. But it's growing on me a lot so I bumped it up.

-Not as user friendly as the earlier versions-Background on some of songs is way too busy with too much going on and it's distracting-No choice between short and extended version that I've found-For me, not the best song selection.

+ Just sweat mode-5 stars all the way and worth it alone for that feature. You select the time duration that you want to dance, the difficulty level of dances and then the songs you want.

+ It is nice that you can still do it even with a lower body injury (my case, knee) and just adjust the moves to fit you. Even if you were just doing the arm movements and keeping your lower body relatively still, you'd get a lot of movement and fun in and work up a sweat.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Bought this for the kids since they love dancing and they really enjoyed the 2013 version. This version is not as good and many of the lyrics have bad words so we don't use it. Next time, I will rent it before buying it to make sure it will be used.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

We ordered the Just Dance 2014. A package arrived and we just wrapped it, without opening it, and placed it under the tree. On Christmas morning, our son unwrapped the gift, and to our surprise, there was an Xbox game. Luckily, we had kept the Mailing package. It reflected there were two shipping labels. The bottom label was addressed to someone in Florida. Amazon's shipping label was held-way on top that one. Amazon's was addressed to us. I first tried to correct this problem using the Amazon website. Since this was an unique situation, nothing applied. I tracked down Amazon's customer service no. And spoke to a very nice rep. He politely listened to our problem. He ordered out the Wii game. We received it in two days. The kids love it. Amazon, we're quite impressed with the service. Everyone remained cool and calm, and the situation was fixed.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

I love playing this game! It’s great for a family of mostly girls. There's music that I know all the lyrics to and some I have never heard before but the songs grew on me. I like it because usually, my family just likes to watch TV all day, but playing this game it gets us moving.

The Good: Songs are great; hit songs that were on the radio in 2014.

The Bad: Nothing, I love this game.

I would recommend this to a friend and I will continue to buy the Just Dance games.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Bought this to learn some moves. As an average white guy, I had no game at all on the dance floor. After playing this game for a few weeks, I was bagging the babes at a local dance club. Just a splash of hi karate cologne, a polyester shirt and I am the man on the dance floor, thanks to the moves I learned with this game. You too will score with Just Dance 2014.